Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), condemned the measures in a statement on the group's website, stating that Americans "remain strongly in favor of marriage as the union of one man and one woman" despite what the polls indicated.

Brown writes:

"We knew long ago that we faced a difficult political landscape with the four marriage battles occurring in four of the deepest-blue states in America. As our opponents built a huge financial advantage, the odds became even steeper. We ran strong campaigns and nearly prevailed in a very difficult environment, significantly out-performing the GOP ticket in every state."

Denying the implication that the results are "a changing point in how Americans view gay marriage," he goes on to note:

"Though we are disappointed over these losses, we remain faithful to our mission and committed to the cause of preserving marriage as God designed it. Marriage is a true and just cause, and we will never abandon the field of battle just because we experienced a setback. There is much work to do, and we begin that process now."

The group's former president Maggie Gallagher also sounded off on the marriage equality victories in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington state in an article in the National Review.

Arguing that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney "tried to win while leaning on only one leg of the the old Reagan coalition: jobs, jobs, jobs, economy, economy, economy," Gallagher added, "We were outspent eight-to-one — and no one was willing to speak for marriage, while the whole Democratic establishment and Hollywood campaigned for marriage. Last night really is a big loss, no way to spin it."

New York lawmakers <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/24/new-york-gay-marriage_n_907901.html" target="_blank">legalized same-sex marriage on July 24, 2011</a>, making it the largest state at the time to pass such legislation.